Fini

Place	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th
Podium
Name	Glenn Price	Joshua Keeler	Nicholas McClendon	Kiaunta Zachary	Andrew Lusby	Micah Gibson
School	Shaw	Parkway	Belle Chasse	Sam Houston	Live Oak	Benton
Seed	1	2	3	4	7	Not Seeded
Class	Freshman	Junior	Sophomore	Sophomore	Freshman	Sophomore
Final Record*	41-6	31-2	31-9	32-12	26-15	6-11

*    Louisiana opponents only, not including any types of forfeits, byes or junior varsity events.

Weight Class Synopsis

Shaw freshman Glenn Price and Parkway junior Joshua Keeler were the heavy favorites to meet in the finals.  The two had met once before in the Trey Culotta semifinals, and Price won 8-7 in Sudden Victory when he was awarded a penalty point.  That was Keeler's only loss before the state championships. 

Four of his five losses were only by one or two points.  Each of those wrestlers had either great or bad seasons.  Brother Martin's Eric Devenport defeated Price by one point twice, but was sidelined for the rest of the season after the Crusaders' New Jersey trip in mid-December.  Two-time Division I state champion Alex Menier of Basile defeated Price by one point, but Price avenged that loss later via a third period fall.  Jesuit runner-up Sam Dreuil and Price split their two matches, each one being two-point decisions.  His other victories included the one over Keeler, and wins over Bonnabel's Sergio Maldonado, Coen Begnaud of Teurlings Catholic and Ty Didier of St. Amant.

Price won the Warrior Open and the Live Oak 8.  He placed second in the Mandeville Open, the Spartan Invitational, the Trey Culotta and the Louisiana Classic.  He advanced to the finals via a first-round fall in 2:42, a quarterfinals fall in 1:28 and a semifinals fall over Sam Houston's Kiaunta Zachary in 2:44.

A third-place finisher at the 2018 state championships, Keeler won the Riot on the Red, the R.L. Turner in Texas, the Jacob McMillan, the Lone Survivor, the Ken Cole and the Gator Brawl in Florida.  Along the way he defeated Basile's Alex Menier twice.  His path to the finals included a first-round bye, a quarterfinals fall in 0:43 and a semifinals fall over Belle Chasse's Nicholas McClendon in 1:00.

Early Championship Rounds

R1: (5) Coen Begnaud (TC) defeated Bryan Brown (ND) 17-5 MD

R1: (6) Beau Perrodin (RAY) pinned Micah Gibson (BNT) in 4:50

R1: (7) Andrew Lusby (LO) pinned Kade Miller (LAK) in 4:47

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Quarterfinals

(1) Glenn Price (SHW) pinned (8) Jacob Baltz (RUM) in 1:28

(4) Kiaunta Zachary (SH) pinned (5) Coen Begnaud in 4:25

(3) Nicholas McClendon (BC) pinned (6) Beau Perrodin (RAY) in 3:58

(2) Joshua Keeler (SHW) pinned (7) Andrew Lusby (LO) in 0:43

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Semifinals

(1) Glenn Price (SHW) pinned (4) Kiaunta Zachary (SH) in 2:44

(2) Joshua Keeler (PKY) pinned (3) Nicholas McClendon (BC) in 1:00

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Consolation Rounds

C1: Adam Franklin (HAU) pinned Franklin Epps (StM) in 0:30

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Championship Consolation Rounds

(3) Nicholas McClendon (BC) pinned (4) Kiaunta Zachary (SH) in 0:41 to place 3rd

(7) Andrew Lusby (LO) pinned Micah Gibson (BNT) in 3:55  to place 5th

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Finals

(1) Glenn Price of Shaw defeated Joshua Keeler of Parkway 8-6

Keeler bolted off of the first whistle to grab Price's left leg, then switched to a double which Price countered with a whizzer near the edge of the mat.  Price got Keeler off of his leg and the two faced each other on their knees, but Keeler then tried a right-side fireman's, and he converted that to a takedown after the first 40 seconds, taking a 2-0 lead.  Keeler rode Price relentlessly but could not turn him over.  Leading 2-0, Keeler won the toss and started on the bottom.  He got his legs away enough to face Price and score an escape, increasing his lead to 3-0.  That would be his largest lead of the match, though.  Keeler next shot a double and ended up high on Price's right leg, but Price thwarted that attempt with another whizzer and when the two faced each other again, Price used the arm he whizzered to arm-drag Keeler and spin behind for his first takedown.  Then Keeler scored the best escape the editor has never seen, as the two were out of video range when it happened.  On a restart, though, Keeler still held a 4-2 lead.  With little more than a second remaining, after Price sprawled on a Keeler shot and spun behind Keeler with Keeler's knee on the mat, if only for a half-second.  Shaw coaches were yelling that Price scored a takedown, and after a discussion between the officials, they agreed.  The third period would start in a 4-4 tie.  On the bottom for the third period start, Price sat-out and turned immediately but Keeler made him work for an escape, almost taking him back to the mat with a double leg, but a Price cross-face while standing loosened Keeler's grip enough for Price to escape.  Price now had his first lead of the match, 5-4, which lasted about six seconds before Keeler shot another fireman's for another takedown, putting price on his back for a half-second.  Price rolled off of his back while bridging and was able to face Keeler and score another escape.  Now the match was tied at six points apiece with 90 seconds remaining.  Keeler took a shot with 45 seconds remaining, but Price managed to pull Keeler's head back and the two went out of bounds.  With 15 seconds left Price tried a duck-under which was fended off by Keeler, and then Price did the best takedown the editor has never seen, spinning behind Keeler completely with 12 seconds remaining.  Shaw had the first Division II title of the evening 8-6.

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